Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Bush to Cut Social Security Disability Benefits to Give Taxcuts to Billionaires

The Social Security Administration (SSA) rule-change proposal, published in the Federal Register last November, would make several different categories of people qualifying for disability benefits wait two more years for payments to start. Because Medicare and Medicaid eligibility are based on Social Security qualifications, individuals would have to postpone receipt of those healthcare benefits too.

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The agency also estimated that the rule change would save the federal government $5.8 billion dollars over the next ten years, leading some groups to believe the motivation behind the rule change is monetary. In its public comments to the SSA, Philadelphia's Community Legal Services, an organization providing representation to low-income people, accused the agency of trying to save federal spending "by defining disability in an even more restrictive manner than currently."

$5.8 billion dollars is less than 10% of the $71.6 billion dollars the Bush Administration wants to give the 18 richest families in America by eliminating the estate tax. More draconian social service cuts to come, most like these in the dead of night, by regulation or something slipped into an omnibus bill.